Sermon, 3rd Sunday in Lent, 2025
Jesus Christ does not allow us to remain non-committed. There is no satisfactory middle ground where individuals can indefinitely delay answering the call of the Messiah. Christ said, “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.” In other words, attempting to remain neutral toward Jesus, or delaying to actively obey Christ, is to oppose Him. Worse yet is to deny the miracles of life that we daily experience because of Christ, for in doing so, we end up more hardened against the grace of God that where we began. Wait no longer. Leave indecision behind. Answer the call now and join…
Sermon, 2nd Sunday in Lent, 2025
According to the Bible, are demons real? How do they attack us? How can we be defended against them, especially considering that the collect for today states, “we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves,”? Let us take some lessons from the Caananite woman in today’s gospel from St. Matthew 15, who fell on her knees and worshiped the Son of David. Let us too cry, “Lord, have mercy on me.” We are not outsiders. We are children of God. Therefore, let our lives be grounded in the family of God. Propers Manuscript Sermon Archive
Homily and Video, First Sunday in Lent, March 9, 2025
As Christ was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil, we too should anticipate temptation. As Christ endured the temptations which He faced, in His power, we too should triumph over our temptations. What are some practical steps to overcoming temptation? Recognize the spiritual battle and commit to fighting against our temptations so that we do not give in to sin Determine to know God through His Word and through worship. We must have a strong relationship with God. Learn to rely on the grace found in His Body – both the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, but also upon our fellow believers with…
Sermon, Sexagesima Sunday, 2025
Today we revisit the parable of the sower, though this is perhaps more accurately described as the parable of the soils. The accompanying readings focus upon the trials of the Christian life and the security that we have with God as He brings us through these trials. We are thus being led to interpret the various soils as the challenges and struggles which we are called upon to endure. God grant us that we should persevere in those times when the devil sows doubt in our hearts, in those times of spiritual dryness, and in those times in which we are distracted from our first love. May we grown in…
Resources to Prepare for the Sacrament of Penance (Confession)
During Ash Wednesday, and the Lenten Season in general, it is highly commended to all Christians to participate in the minor sacrament of penance. It is a good and healthy spiritual exercise to examine one’s life and conduct, to confess our sins to the church, to hear God’s forgiveness authoritatively pronounced to us, and to resolve to amend one’s life by taking up spiritual disciplines to counter our besetting sins. Contact Fr. Kent to schedule a time if you would like to participate in this sacrament. You can email him here. Resources: Hints for a First Confession, by Edward Bouverie Pusey An Anglican Primer on Confession (by an anonymous priest…
Sermon, Septuagesima Sunday, 2025
On Septuagesima Sunday, we are called to awaken from our slumber. We are called to Awake, Awake to Love and Work. We are called to dedicated service our Our Lord Jesus Christ. For most of us, however, this cry passes by us without evoking any change in our attitudes or in our actions. Why is this? Perhaps it is because we don’t really long as deeply for our heavenly reward as we ought to. We consider the rewards of our efforts to be too far off, to be too intangible, to be too little to inspire us. We need to repent of holding cheaply the salvation won for us by…
Sermon, 3rd Sunday in Advent, 2024
The story of Israel, and of Christ as the True Israel, and of each of our lives as well, is marked by the pattern of exile and return. This is especially seen in Psalm 107. The ordained ministry is crucial to preparing the people for return back to the land of promise and blessing. They are the heralds calling to the people to repent and return to the Lord. They who minister to God’s people are not judged by the people or even by their own consciences. But as St. Paul says, “he that judgeth me is the Lord.” Ministers will be held accountable by God, and thus they must…
Sermon, 2nd Sunday in Advent, 2024
Once per year during Advent, we are called upon to consider the gift of the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God. God has graciously revealed Himself to us in the pages of the Bible. Thus, the reading of Holy Scripture is a sacrament for in them Christ gives Himself to us. They are not easy to understand, but we, like the patriarch Joseph, are called upon to wrestle with scripture, to conform our precepts to the precept that we find there, and to study them so that we may apprehend God more fully. In doing so in the company of our fellow believers in the Church throughout time, we find…
Holy Communion, First Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1, 2024
What is Advent about? There are two core themes that we find in the readings. First is the sense of urgency. Christ is coming, and therefore there is no time for procrastination! Second is the theme of preparation. Christ is coming so we must prepare to receive Him. Let us therefore repent of our sins and embrace holiness. “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” Here is the time code for the video below: 3:10 Litany 10:49 Processional Hymn 15:46 Morning Prayer 26:48 Ante-Communion 47:50 Homily 1:15:31 Comfortable Words/Sursum…
Sermon, Sunday Next Before Advent, 2024
The Sunday Next Before Advent is coloquially called, “Stir Up Sunday,” from the first words of this day’s collect. “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people.” In reading the lessons, we note the theme of “in-gathering” for the Kingdom of God is a harvest of those who have previously been dispersed throughout the whole world. Yet in the Kingdom, we are not only the object of the verb “to gather in”, but we are the subject as well. We have been gathered in, and we are called to gather in others as well. This, therefore, is the reason that we are to be stirred…